The Robert Louis Stevenson Archive

(1) Jekyll and Hyde

See separate page

(2) Treasure Island

1902 Osbourne, Lloyd & Austin Strong (1902). Treasure Island. A melodrama in Five Acts. [MS (dated 18 June 1902; also As’s colour drawings of each scene) at RLS Silverado Museum; typescripts in Library of Congress, Beinecke Library (McKay 7279, dated 18 June 1902, 94 pp) and RLS Silverado Museum.]

1915 Goodman, Jules Eckert [1876-1962] (1915). Treasure Island. Dir. by Charles Hopkins and Edward Emery at the Punch and Judy Theatre, New York, (Dec. 1 1915 – April 1916), music arranged and adapted by Maurice Rumsey, with Edward Emery (Silver) and Mrs. Charles Hopkins (Jim Hawkins).

[Recently performed by The Peacock Players (a non-profit children’s theatre group) at the Court Street Theatre, Nashua, New Hampshire, dir. by Timothy L’Ecuyer, Oct. 13-22 2006 .]

1936 Fagan, James Bernard (1936). Treasure Island. A play. London: Cassell..

1938 Welles, Orson (1938). Treasure Island. [radio broadcast: Mercury Theater on the Air, July 1938; half in England, half on the Island; omits 'My Sea Adventure'; music by Bernard Herrmann; available as CD (see Audiovisual Publishing page) and also at http://www.unknown.nu/mercury/ in a downloadable or "streaming" version]

1946 Treasure Island. A play in six scenes. London: H. F. W. Deane & Sons

1947 Connell, Charles Henry (1947). Treasure Island. A play, from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. London & Glasgow: Blackie & Son (Troubadour Plays).

1947 *** Treasure Island. St James's Theatre, London, withHarry Welchman (Silver) and John Clark (Jim).

1954 Morgan, Malcolm (1954). Treasure Island. An adventure in three acts. London: William Heinemann.

1955 Galeazzi, Luigi (1955). L' Isola del tesoro : Dramma in tre atti dal celebre racconto di R L Stevenson. Milano: S. Majocchi

1973 Miles, Bernard & Josephine Wilson (book), Hal Shaper (Lyrics), Cyril Ornadel (Music) (1973). The Mermaid Theatre's Treasure Island, a musical adventure in two acts. London: Weinberger. Also: Miles, Bernard, Peter Coe & Josephine Wilson. Treasure Island, as presented at the Mermaid Theatre. London: French.

1977 Way, Brian (1977). Treasure Island, an original play based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. Reston: Educational Arts Association.

1977 Moffatt, Derry (ill. Tony Masero) (1977). Treasure Island, adapted for Walt Disney productions' Screen Presentation. London: New English Library.

1983 Harris, Aurand (1983). Treasure Island: Playscript. [USA]: Anchorage Press; ISBN: 0876022530. [Children’s play with music by Kevin Dunn]

1986 Hall, Willis & Denis King (music) (1896). Treasure Island. London: French.

1991 Watson, Ara (1991). Treasure Island. New York: Dramatists Play Service [originally commissioned by Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park]

1995 Stephenson, Rex (1995). Treasure Island: Play - A Two-act Dramatisation. [USA]: IE Clark; ISBN: 0886804132

1996 Morris, Vernon and B.H. Barry (1996). Treasure Island. Ohio Theater, New York, performed by theBlue Light Theater Company

[Later performed on Sanibel Island, Florida. Big-budget production planned for Broadway, the Belasco Theatre, for the 2007-8 season, to be directed by B.H. Barry. Morris is a former actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company, now also a director and writer of children’s theatre. Barry is a well-known fight-director.]

1997 Maines, Michael & Kim Adams (?1997). Treasure Island [musical, Gaslight Theatre, Tucson, USA; Zachary Miller as Jim]

1997 Dikla Katz (1997?). [Treasure Island]. With Avi Zlicha and the Key Theatre (Avi Zlicha and Dikla Katz). Tel Aviv Museum of Art, December 10, 12 2007.

[Hebrew theatre. Zlicha plays Jim Hawkins, while the other characters are all puppet-theatre objects that come to life as the tale progresses.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1196834824530&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull]

2000 Reeves, Drew (2000). Treasure Island. [Atlanta Kaleidoscope Children's Theatre/Shakespeare Tavern, Mar 11-Apr 1 2000]

2000 Manfridi, Giuseppe (2000). Navigando verso l'isola del tesoro / L’isola del tesoro. [A two-part, two-venue dramatization of Treasure Island performed by the Teatro stabile del Veneto: Part 1 in Padua (Porta Portello; 7 July 2000, repeat performance on 8th); Part 2 (set on Treasure Island) in Venice (Teatro Verde, Isola di San Giorgio; 11 July 2000). Then (as L’isola del tesoro) on a tour of Italian tehatres in 2001-2. Jim was played by an actress (Gaia Aprea) in a way that reminded one critic of Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, so adding a certain ambiguous eroticism in relations with Sulver Luigi Diliberti. Manfridi’s style was seen as ‘cinematografic’ (continual alternations between present and past, memory and imagination).]

2001 Boone, Alan (2001). L'île au Trésor. [Compagnie La Machine à rêver, Théâtre de Cherbourg, France; 30 Jan-3 Feb 2001; deliberate use of gaps and inexplicable repetition; aim to make the spectator create through imagination; memorable tableaux; theme of the double. Interpreted by two actors (whose basic roles are Jim's mother and Silver) wearing various costumes; Jim is not represented but is referred to; changes in the book's narrator are marked by clear 'theatrical moments']

2001 Treasure Island. [The Tobacco Factory, Bristol, with music and songs. 14 Dec 2001-19 January 2002. Story line close to the book.]

2001 Treasure Island. Adapted and performed by Ian Johnstone and Andy Cannon for Wee Stories Theatre for Children [Edinburgh Festival, 2001; not all of the original characters were under-taken by the duo: Dr Livesey was excised, smoothly enough, the parrot was managed by an umbrella-handle, and Ben Gunn by a floor-mop; Trelawney possibly gay].

2002 Huck, Karl and the ‘Homunkulus Figurentheater’ (2002 but created before that date). Die Schatzinsel[Treasure Island; puppet dramatization; KH’s repertoire also includes RLS's Bottle Imp; KH is based on the holiday island of Hiddensee (near Rugen in NE Germany), where in the summer season he is to be found in his ‘See-Buhne’, and at other times of the year tours his productions in Europe and Scandinavia; his address is: Wallweg 2, 18565 Vitte, Germany; in May 2002 he performed Treasure Island for 5 days at 17 Heriot Row in Edinburgh]

2002 (or earlier) Donnelly, Mary and George L.O. Strid (?2002). Treasure Island. Paoli, Penn.:: J.W. Pepper & Son.[A 55-minute 3-act musical for schools with eight musical numbers]

2002 Compagnie Sortie de Route (Lyon, France) (2002). L’île au trésor. Directors Thierry Chantrel & Bruno Fontaine. [The scenery is inspired by pop-up books.]

2004? Steve and Kathy Hotchner (?2004). Treasure Island. Woodstock, Il: Dramatic Publishing. At Slane College, Jan. 2004. Little Red Wagon Touring Theatre tour June-August 2006.
[45-minute audience-participation play for children. ‘the audience joins the actors to create a storm at sea, a mosquito-infested jungle, and a treasure cave, while five brave young souls from the audience come aboard to become crew mates.’ ]

2005/6 Schmiedl, Eric (2005). Treasure Island. Scheduled to be produced by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in their 2005/2006 mainstage season.

2005 Eiler, Jim (book), Jim Eiler & Jeanne Bargy(music) (2005). Treasure Island. Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre, dir. Christopher Wolfe; Carl Sandburg Middle School, 8428 Fort Hunt Road, Alexandria, November 2005. Also performed by Ipswich Middle School, Ipswich, MA, 10-11 Feb. 2006 [A musical adaptation for children]

2005 Ludwig, Ken (2005). Treasure Island. World première scheduled for the Alley Theatre, Houston, May 20-27, 2007; director Gregory Boyd with Elizabeth Bunch (Jim) and James Black (Silver). The play was presented at The 4th Annual Page-to-Stage New Play Festival Sep 3 - 5, 2005, John F. Kennedy Center, Washington DC. Also at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, dir. Sean Holmes with with Keith Allen (Silver) from November 7 2008. Music by Tom Haines and Ross Hughes. Also at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, dir. Sean Holmes with with Keith Allen (Silver) from November 7 2008. [The Houston production doesn’t seem to have been a musical; but Bethesda credits have ‘composer: Matthew M. Nielson’, and the London credits have ‘Music by Tom Haines and Ross Hughes’. Ludwig is author of numerous Broadway and West End hits; Positive review in Variety http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117933799.html?categoryid=33&cs=1

‘Black spot’ fromHoustonPress http://www.houstonpress.com/2007-05-31/culture/treasure-island]

2006 Heisel, John (2006). Treasure island. Children’s Drama Company, Columbus Performing Arts Center, Columbis, Ohio, dir. John Heisel. Feb. 11-19 2006.

2006 Bent, Simon (2006). Under the Black Flag (subtitled: The early life, adventures and pyracies of the Famous Long John Silver before he lost his leg). Performed at The Globe Theatre, London, summer 2006, dir. Roxana Silbert.

[John Silver (Cal MacAninch), unfortunate enough to earn the disfavour of Cromwell, is press-ganged away from his wife and daughter, for a life in the colonies, where he is later captured by pirates. We learn why he is called ‘Long’, how he lost a leg, and we get background to Billy Bones and One-eyed (later, Blind) Pew. We don’t learn, however, how the treasure got to Treasure Island.]

2006 McKinney, Michael (2006). Treasure Island. Dir. Michael McKinney with student actresses from Wesleyan College (Macon, Georgia). 5-7 October 2006.
[A cheeky slapstick parody version. Long John Silver (Materra Drafts) is accompanied by a dead parrot, some of the pirates wear Hello Kitty t-shirts. ]

2006 Mizzi, Anton (book) & Alfred Arnold (music). Treasure Island Dir. Anton Mizzo. Don Bosco Oratory Theatre in Sliema, Malta, 19 and 25 November 2006. Musical play in Maltese.

2006 Speary, Linus (2006). Treasure Island. Performed by the First State Children’s Theater (Newark, DE) at the Delaware Theatre Company, Wilmington, DE, Nov. 8-14, 2006, and at the Schwartz Center for the Arts, Dover, DE, Nov. 15-18.

2006 Storybook Theatre (Monterey Peninsula College) (2006). Treasure Island. The Studio Theatre at MPC, Feb. 10-26 2006. [An audience-participation performance loosely based Stevenson’s classic adventure story.]

2006 Whelihan, Paul (book), Ian August (lyrics), Mark Baron (music) (2006). Treasure Island. Performed by Luna Stage (Montclair, NJ), at the Running Rabbit Family Theatre (Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ), Dec. 8-30 2006.
[This production features a cast of deaf and hearing actors and includes sign interpretation throughout.]

2006 Danson, Dan & Richard da Costa (2006). Treasure Island. Tobacco Factory theatre company (Bristol). Dir. Dan Danson, with Dan Danson (Silver), Kate Blair (Jim), Richard da Costa (Pew), Dan Winter (Gunn). Tobacco Factory, Bristol, Dec. 20 2006 - 20 Jan. 2007.

2007 Karen Louise Hebden & Brian Protheroe (music) (2007). Treasure Island. Dir. Karen Louise Hebden with Daniel Hinchliffe (Jim) and Glyn Kerslake (Silver). Derby Playhouse, 24 Nov- 2007 – 26 January 2008. Also Rose Theatre, Kingston-on-Thames, dir. Stephen Unwin with Harry McEntire (Jim) and Richard Bremmer (Silver),11 December 2009 to 9 January 2010.

[‘Karen Louise Hebden's adaptation… is a swaggering synthesis of cannon smoke, sea-shanties and three-cornered hats, showing that provincial theatre can aspire to musical spectacle on a grand scale…. Long John Silver emerges here as a complex creation… a contemplative opportunist whose readiness to switch sides is the mark of a man who instinctively knows which way the wind is blowing.’ The Guardian 14.12.07 http://arts.guardian.co.uk/theatre/drama/reviews/story/0,,2227541,00.html. The production was presented by a concerted effort (with many staff working unpaid) in the face of the theatre’s financial difficulties. Most of the dialogue is from Stevenson.]

2007 Brad Jackson & Alex Vorse (2007). Treasure Island. Casa Mañana Theatre, Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. 28-Oct. 14 2007. Musical adaptation.

2007 Paul Mastrangelo (2007). Treasure Island. Directed by Jackie Osterman with music by Paul Osterman. Performed by Hartford Players Youth Theatre and Capitol Theatre Rising Stars Program. Capitol Theatre Performing Arts Center, Rome (NY), November 9-10, 2007.

2007 Brett Smock (book) & Corinne Aquilina (music) (2007). Treasure Island. Produced by Rochester Children’s Theatre at Nazareth College Arts Center (Pittsford), with Michael Centanni (Jim) and Andrew Hammond (Silver), 24-5 and 30-31 March 2007.

2007 Winget, James (2007). Treasure Island. Performed by the Impossible Players, dir. Michael Lynch, at the Impossible Players' Playhouse, Pueblo (USA), with David J. McNeilly (Silver) and Jason Wells (Jim), April 27-28 and May 2-5 2007.

2008 Curt Dale Clark (book and lyrics) & Marc Robin (music) (2008). Treasure Island: A Musical Adventure. Directed by Marc Robin, with John Herrera (Silver) and Rick Desloge alternating with Dan Scott (Jim Hawkins). Fulton Opera House (Lancaster, PA), 6-22 March 2008.

[2008 is the year of the announced première, though Fulton Opera House admits that the musical has had ‘years of extensive development at several theatres in Chicago and elsewhere’.An ‘epic musical’ (in the spirit of the musical Les Miserables) ‘about a boy coming of age with the help of a motley crew of pirates and an adventure that tests his spirit and his courage. http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/217832]

2009 Brenda Bell (music and book) & Michael Sgouros (lyrics) (2009). Treasure Island by Literally Alive Theatre, with Meg Lanzarone (Jim) at the Players Theatre, New York, February 11 - May 10 2009.
[Literally Alive is a New York City based family theatre company that produces original musicals based on classic literature.]

2009 John Hildret (2009). Treasure Island. Dir. Robert Kauzlaric, Lifeline Theatre, Chicago: 21 Sept. – 1 Nov. 2009. And Lee Auditorium, St Louis, 6-8 November 2009 (Missouri History Museum, Performing Arts Series).

2009 Steve Emerson (2009). Treasure Island. Theatre for Young America, June 23 - July 3, 2009, H&R Block City Stage, Union Station, Kansas City, MO..

2009 Andrew Pollard (2009). Treasure Island. Music by Jenni Molloy. With Graeme Dalling (Jim) and David Tarkenter (Silver). Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, 26 Nov-5 Dec 2009 (then touring to Huddersfield and Milton Keynes).
[Cast of six; Pew is a sinister puppet manipulkated by three actors.]

2009 [St Louis Shakespeare] (2009). Treasure Island. Directed by Jerry Vogel. With Emily Jackoway (Jim) and Tom Kopp (Silver). Lee Auditorium in the Missouri History Museum, November 6 - 15, 2009.

2010 Treasure Island (Phil Wilmot)
First performance: 26 June 2010, The Space, London
Other performances: till 9 July 2010

(3) Others

1909 Mouezy-Eon, André & Paul Armont (1909). Les Nuits du Hampton Club. [grand-guignol adaptation of 'The Suicide Club' (Stott 1994: 76); dates of 1917 and 1928 also found—perhaps revivals]

1929 Abercrombie Anderson, Hugh (1929). The Suicide Club.
Anderson (1890-1965), Canadian playwright and theatre manager, lived and worked in New York.

1947 Hinsdale, Harriet (1947). Robert Louis Stevenson. A Play. Caldwell, Ohio: Caxton Printers.

1947: Connell, Charles Henry (1947). Kidnapped. A play, from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. London & Glasgow: Blackie & Son (Troubadour Plays).

1975 Bill Bryden (libretto), Robin Orr [1909-2006] (music) (1975). Hermiston. Scottish Opera, Edinburgh, August 27 1975.
[‘Hermiston belongs to that unfortunate species of opera given a poor reception because of their libretti. It begins sensationally with a hanging, and continues to include all the trappings of melodrama: rape, murder, mad scene, death from heart attack, suicide. The musical drama doesn't work like that however. The first act, for example, is a beautifully judged dramatic sequence from its savage and sustained opening choral scene to a sinister scene between father and son and a restless one between Archie and the housekeeper, which gradually opens out into a tender and enchanting scene between Archie and the housekeeper's niece. Here is that rare thing, a modern love duet which depicts first awakenings and responses unhurriedly and convincingly. The mood is eventually broken and the act ended by the arrival of Archie's boorish friend Frank.’ (Ian Kemp. ‘Robin Orr at 90: Age of Gold’, The Musical Times, Spring 1999. For more on the opera, see The Musical Times, Vol. 116, No. 1590 (Aug., 1975): 700-702.]

1987 Knight, Alanna. Across The Plains. BBC 1. [Adaptation of The Amateur Emigrant]

**** Gregory, David. The Black Arrow [DG is an American playwright - he was working on this in 1998]

**** Jessop, G.H. & A.M. Moore (****). Kidnapped. A play in five acts. [Typescript, 93 pp. (Beinecke 725)]

Treasure Island
Radio Dramatisation with Peter Jeffrey and Hugh Paddick
First broadcast 1989

1994 Johnson, Donald (1994). The Bottle Imp. Radio adaptation broadcast (?BBC Scotland) 6 December 1994.
[Script in the ‘Scottish Plays’ collection on the University of Glasgow STELLA site.]

The Master Of Ballantrae
Radio Dramatisation with Jimmy Chisholm and Alasdair McCrone.
First broadcast 1994

1995 Cross, Felix (1995). The Bottle Imp. Musical. University of Warwick Music Centre.[books by Graham Devlin, for Major Road].

1995 ***. McGregor’s Trap [from Kidnapped, at 1995 Edinburgh Fringe]

1999 Hannan, Martin. Marky. (6-15 Aug. 1999, Famous Grouse Theatre, Edinburgh; Counterfeiters Theatre Company [Glasgow], dir. John Clyde) [updated version of 'Markheim']

2000 Jones, William B., Jr. (2000). Home From Sea: An Inland Voyage Through the World of Robert Louis Stevenson. [readers' theatre piece containing excerpts from letters; poems, short stories; novels; and travel writings; performed during "RLS 2000: Robert Louis Stevenson in Literature and Popular Culture," at the Main Library, Little Rock, Arkansas, 10 November 2000.]

2000 Chapman, Wayne A. (2000). The Beach of Falesà [incorporating music and dance; part of the "RLS 2000" events; performed by the Performance Arts Department, University of Arkansas at Little Rock].

2000 Rosen, Louis, Arthur Perlman & Charlotte Maier (book); Louis Rosen (music) (2000). A Child's Garden. [dir. Lori Steinberg, chor. Robert La Fosse, The Melting Pot Theatre company at Theatre 3 (New York); December 5^th (previews) - January 14^th; a free interpretation of a part of Stevenson's life and works: Stevenson in San Francisco in 1880 with writer's block thinks back to the final summer of his childhood in his grandfather's garden and is inspired to start the sketches that will become A Child's Garden of Verses]

2003 Kidnapped [musical]. [Developed from the 1995 McGregor’s Trap. Starring Chesney Hawkes. Planned for Edinbugh 2003]

2003 McCrone, Alasdair & Robert Paterson (2003). Kidnapped. [director Alasdair McCrone, ‘soundscape’ by John Davidson; a co-production by Mull Theatre and Perth Theatre; at Perth Theatre, 19 Sept.-4 Oct. 2003, then touring the Highlands and Islands (and Mussselburgh) in October and November; not clear if this is connected with the previous item. Reviews and Production photos: http://www.mulltheatre.com/ (What’s on > Kidnapped > Herald Review). “what sets this production apart is the near spectral presence of fiddler and composer John Davidson onstage throughout.”.]

Olalla
Radio Dramatisation with Paul Blair and Roxana Pope
First broadcast 2003

2005 Chaumette, Christophe (2005). Voyages avec un âne dans les Cévennes. Théâtre S’amourailles, director Romain Fohr, actor Christophe Chaumette. Performed in Lozère in July 2005, then at the Avignon Festival ‘Off’ (Hôtel Mercure Pont d’Avignon), 15-30 July 2005; Edinburgh Fringe Festival 7-28 August 2005 (Citrus Club, Grindlay Street)
[Chaumette has been producing shows based on Stevenson’s texts and in Cévennes area for several years (for example, Stevenson chez les camisards at the Pont de Montvert Festival in April 2002). The company walked the Stevenson route 13 days (not clear in which year, perhaps 1998) performing at night in the towns and villages passed through, creating a contemporary Road Theatre. The Voyages is a one-actor piece, combining ‘sounds, images, alchemy, with both French and English language’.]

Weir of Hermiston
Radio Dramatisation by Robert Forrest
First broadcast 2004

2005 Thane, Adele (2005). ‘The Bottle Imp’. Plays 64.vii: 26-35. One act.

2006 Carnegie, John (2006). Hermiston. Performed (as part of the Edinburgh Festival) by the Rowan Tree Theatre Company, dir. John Carnegie, with Michael Mackenzie (Lord Hermiston), Grant O’Rourke (Archie Weir) and Isabella Jarrett (Kirstie Elliott), at the Netherbow Theatre, Edinburgh, 1-26 August 2006.

2007 Smith, Donald (2007). ‘Kidnapped - When Kilts Were Banned’. Parody retelling of Stevenson’s story, 16 Feb. 2007, 11 am, 2 pm, Scottish Storytelling Centre.

2007 ‘Ticonderoga - Shadow Theatre Workshop’ - excerpt from Clydebuilt’s shadow theatre production of Stevenson’s Scottish/American frontier ghost-story poem ‘Ticonderoga’. 15 Feb. 2007, 11 am, Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh.

2007Catriona. Meanwhile Theatre Company (Prestonpans, Scotland), The Gothenburg, Prestonpans, 9-10 Aug. 2007; 13-18th Aug., 20- 25 Aug. 2007, The Greenside, Edinburgh.

2007 Laura Chiotasso & Costantino Sarnelli (2007). Ho sognato di Stevenson. [I dreamt of Stevenson]. Performed by members of Le Cercle Rouge, Auditorium Bertello, Borgo San Dalmazzo (Cuneo, Italy), 6 October 2007.

[Four travellers are marooned late at night in a metro station and, while waiting for the promised last train, tell each other stories from Stevenson’s Fables. The situation of the travellers is reflected both in the uncertain reality created by interacting levels of representation (actors and film) as well as inthe cruel absurdity of the Fables themselves—several of which are repeated in different versions and media in a parallel exploration of sonorities and musical form.]

2007 Royal, Peter (2007). ‘A Lodging for the Night’, in U.K. Quartet, four dramatized short stories by British Isles writers. Dir. Peter Royal, performed by pupils of Bronxville High School, NY, at Bronxville Women’s Club, 21-2 June 2007

[This ‘chamber theater’ production (staged, memorized reader’s theatre without props) will be taken to the American High School Theatre Festival, part of the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival, August 2007. ]

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